Most of the time, when you tell a specific program on your computer to close, whether by clicking the X in the top right hand corner, clicking close, or using the keyboard shortcut Alt + F4, the program will begin to close. If you choose, you can then open the same program again or a different program. However, in some cases, programs have problems closing properly when you ask them to. Sometimes programs will only close partially or may freeze and begin to slow down your computer so the entire computer begins to freeze or lag. This can be very distressing for a computer user, or at least highly annoying. This article will discuss why programs may suddenly develop problems closing properly and discuss techniques you can use to close programs or force them to close so these issues are less likely to occur.
The most common reason why a program may suddenly develop a problem closing properly is because of a driver or related program was recently installed or uninstalled. This is particularly likely to occur if you have recently updated your operating system with a system patch or update or have replaced your operating system with an entirely new one. Many people who had used Windows XP for years became upset to find out that some of their favorite programs no longer worked as they once had once they updated their operating systems from XP to Windows Vista. This can happen at a much smaller level as well, such as when you install new programs that conflict with your existing programs or when you update or roll back drivers to ensure compatibility with different programs.
Now that you know some of the more common reasons why programs may give you and your computer difficulty when you try to close them, it is time to focus on how to close programs effectively. Sometimes, when you ask a program to close, it might just take a little while longer because the program was in the background and wasn’t being used for a while. Giving the computer a few more seconds to process things might be all you need to do for the program to close properly. At other times, the program might refuse to close because it is waiting for you to save a file or document you were working on; check for save and error prompts before trying more drastic measures. At other times, a program might just seem to freeze for no reason; this is going to be due to a hardware or software reason. If it only seems to happen with one program, it is probably software related, while if it seems to happen with lots of programs, it may be due to a hardware fault. Regardless of the reason, a surefire way to close almost any program is through the Task Manager. You can access the Task manager by holding down Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Navigate to the program that will not close and click End Task.
Leave a Reply